EPISODE 15 John Chapter 15 ”I AM THE TRUE VINE” for Share The Word

Welcome to Share the Word, a Great Commission project. For our new listeners, as well as those who've been with us from the start, thanks for tuning in. Share the Word is a podcast that explains the big ideas in the New Testament chapter by chapter. Today we are so excited to have Pastor Phil Gerard with us, explaining the big ideas of John chapter 15. So open those Bibles and let's tune in. The disciples had just finished the Last Supper in the upper room.

By this time, what Jesus was saying to them must have discouraged them. Their leader, their Lord, had been talking all evening about leaving them. I believe that as they filed through the streets of Jerusalem, they were silent, if not sullen. Jesus led them out of the city and through the Kidron Valley. And as they walked toward what we call the Garden of Gethsemane, they passed row upon row of ancient vineyards. At some point, Jesus stopped, and in the moonlight, he reached up for a grape branch and said these words to his disciples: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit.

For without me, you can do nothing. Now what did Jesus mean when he claimed to be the true vine, the authentic vine, the ideal vine, what God expected from Israel but never got, he found in his Son, Jesus. But what exactly did God expect from the true vine? Our English translation gets in the way a little here. When we use the word vine in English, we think of tiny little vines like the kind you see in grapevineries. That's not the idea.

If you have ever seen grape plants in a vineyard, each plant has one stalk about three or four feet high, about as thick as your forearm, that ends in a large gnarle from which three or four branches grow. These branches are often tied to some kind of a trellis, and the branches from that single stalk will cover an entire trellis. That single stalk is the source of all the nourishment for all of the branches. The stalk develops an extensive root system and delivers all the nutrients from the soil to the branches. And the point of all this is fruit. The owner of a vineyard plants because he wants fruit.

And this stalk, this vine, can produce 12 to 15 pounds of grapes a year. Jesus is the true vine because he did indeed produce the fruit for which God looks. Now these verses define the other parts of this metaphor as well. Jesus is the vine, the stalk. Verse 1 tells us that God the Father is the vine dresser, the owner of the vineyard. He cares for the vines because He's determined to see fruit.

In verse 5, Christ clearly identifies the three or four branches that come from the vine or stock as His followers. Christ's disciples are pictured here like these branches that have a direct connection to the primary stock. And these branches, in turn, produce the grapes, the fruit. With the meaning of the illustration firmly in our minds, we are ready to grasp the main point of this passage: the all-importance of fruit. I mean, why do we plant grapevines? Because they have nice flowers?

Because they provide nice ground cover? Because they provide low-maintenance landscaping? No, we plant grapevines because we want fruit. Listen, God gave us life, eternal life, spiritual life, because He wants fruit. That is the purpose for our existence. Another way to put this: the reason God saves human beings from our sins and gives us eternal life is so that we will produce that for which God hungers.

He's the vine dresser, and He desires an abundant harvest of spiritual fruit from each branch. These first five verses in this chapter, the word fruit appears six times in them. The point of all this is fruit. It is spiritual fruit that's all important. Now you may ask, what did Jesus mean by fruit, by spiritual fruit? Well, the New Testament describes spiritual fruit in several ways.

Worship is called the fruit of our lips. Other people that we win to Christ to become his followers are also a type of spiritual fruit. But perhaps most important, the New Testament describes the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God the vinedresser is determined to see the branches, you and me, bear this kind of fruit. In fact, the best way to understand what Jesus shared with his disciples that evening is to understand what it says about the four levels of fruitfulness. This passage speaks of a progression of four levels of fruitfulness.

If you have a Bible handy, I encourage you to notice these first five verses in John 15. Verse 2 speaks of no fruit, every branch in me that does not bear fruit. Verse 2 also speaks of the next level, fruit, every branch that bears fruit. And then the end of verse 2 speaks of the next level, more fruit, that it may bear more fruit. And then finally, verse 5 speaks of much fruit, bears much fruit. So there's a progression here: no fruit.

Fruit, more fruit, and then finally much fruit. And God the vine dresser is determined to take every one of us to that next level of fruitfulness. And these verses spell out the action that takes a branch from no fruit to fruit, that takes a branch from fruit to more fruit, and then that takes a branch from more fruit to much fruit. In our remaining time, we want to concentrate on these three pathways that take us to the next level of fruitfulness. Jesus begins by describing how he deals with branches that bear no fruit. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.

Now, I must admit that this phrase confused me for years. I thought it meant that someone who bears no fruit is not really saved. But that doesn't align with teaching in the rest of the New Testament. So what does it mean? In what sense is this non-fruit-bearing branch taken away? Here again, the English translation gives us some trouble.

The verb in the original language that's translated takes away is also often translated takes up or lifts up. For instance, John uses this very same word repeatedly in John 5 in the story of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus said to that man, Rise, take up your bed and walk. This word can mean to lift up rather than take away, and that changes the picture completely. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he lifts up. And if you know anything about grapevines, this makes perfect sense.

An experienced vine dresser will tell you that new branches have a natural tendency to trail down and grow along the ground. Now this makes sense to really any gardener. One of my favorite flowers is a clematis. Last year we also planted a jasmine. Both of these plants are similar to grapevines. When they begin to grow, you must lift them up off the ground and wrap them around a trellis.

And here's the thing: grapevines don't grow fruit if they're down on the ground. When the branches grow along the ground, their leaves get covered with dust and dirt. They're much more susceptible to the molds and mildews and the insects that plague grapevines. The careful vine dresser lifts them up, cleans them off, and ties them to the trellis. Jesus here gives us a wonderful picture of young believers or immature believers, someone who is bearing little or no fruit. God doesn't see such believers as useless.

He doesn't throw them on the trash heap. That is not how the vine dresser works. He seeks fruit. He's determined that every believer shall bear fruit. So he lifts us up in order that we may bear it. Now what exactly does that mean in a practical way?

Well, I believe that it indicates that in the life of a new believer, the first order of business is to overcome stubborn sins, perhaps life-dominating sins. Young believers need to learn to let God lift them up out of the dirt of sin and clean them up so that they can bear fruit. Next, Jesus describes how he deals with believers who are bearing fruit so that they'll bear more fruit. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes. A grapevine can either produce thick, lush foliage, or it can produce abundant, luscious fruit, but it cannot do both. And that is why a vine dresser who knows his business is downright ruthless in pruning the tendrils and the foliage from the grapevine.

Now, God is a wise vine dresser, determined to see that our lives bear more fruit, and so he prunes. Now again, what does that mean in a practical sense? I believe that it means that God seeks to remove from our lives the activities that compete for the time and energy that should go into bearing fruit. You see, when we get to a certain level of Christian maturity, the struggle is not so much against obvious sin, but competition between the good and the best. There are many activities that every one of us can undertake that are just fine. They're not sinful.

They're legitimate. But they take the time and energy and resources that should be going into bearing fruit for God. And at times, God moves into our lives and begins to prune these kinds of things away. And it's not necessarily very pleasant. We want to say, Lord, I have a right to these things. But the vine dresser, remember, gave us spiritual life so that he might see fruit.

He will not let us settle for the good. He wants the best for us. And so he prunes our lives so that we will bear more fruit. Then finally, in verse five, Jesus describes how we may bear much fruit. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit.

How do we bear much fruit? We abide in Christ as he abides in us. Now, I'll be truth with you. This idea of abiding has always intimidated me. There are numerous devotional authors who define abiding as some kind of mysterious, mystical thing straight out of the Twilight Zone. But we need to understand that the word translated abide in this passage was an everyday word back in the New Testament times.

This word is used 120 times in the New Testament. Time and again in the New Testament, this word is translated stay in modern version of the New Testament, as in stay in a house, either as a guest or as a resident. So I live, I stay, I abide at such and such an address. Now, does that mean that I'm in the house there 24/7? No, I go to work, I go to church, but I spend more time in that place than anywhere else on earth. It's where I'm at home.

It's where I rest. It's where I'm comfortable, my permanent address. So, in a word, abiding has the idea of constancy. And why must I constantly stay in Christ? Well, Jesus explains why at the end of verse five. Abiding in Christ has the sense of depending on Christ for everything we do to live the Christian life in a fruit-bearing way.

And such dependence, if it is going to be constant, takes some doing, takes some intentionality, because we're sinful, fallen human beings. Even after Christ saves us, it is so easy for us to fall into default mode and default mode, depending on ourselves, thinking that putting more elbow grease into it is what we need to do. Rather, we all need to print a banner that hangs over our lives in bold capital letters: Without Jesus, I can do nothing. It is only by constantly depending on Jesus and drawing strength and grace from Him that we bear much fruit. Let me ask you, at what level of fruitfulness are you? No fruit, fruit, more fruit, or much fruit?

And what step do you need to take today to rise to the next level? This has been Phil for Share the Word. Thanks for listening. If you're enjoying these commentaries on the Gospel of John, please help us share the Word by passing along the podcast to your friends and family. There's no better way to learn the content of the New Testament than chapter by chapter. For more information, visit us at sharetheword.org.

From all of us at Share the Word, our blessings and prayers go out to all of you.